Aster

Propagating Aster should be done every 3-4 years because it keeps them vigorous bloomers and division is done by popping the parent plant out of the ground and dividing the rhizimous clumps in the spring because asters attract butterflies, but it should be fertilized once a month to produce bountiful blooms. They prefer full sun with well drained amended soil and will withstand some drought however blooms will be curtailed if left dry for too long. Unlike a vast majority of perennials and there are over 600 species including annual and perennial, asters bloom from mid summer to late fall or to a hard freeze with color variations ranging lavender, purple, red, pink, white, but the annual asters offer a wider range of colors which include doubles, and normally grow from 12" to 36" in height and should be cut back in July to prevent the flower spikes from laying over in the wind when blooming.

Amsonia ciliata var. filifolia 'Georgia Pancake'-Creeping Blue Star

A unusual perennial, Creeping Blue Star, can be propagated by cuttings, if you want to live dangerously, in early summer, and this method is the best or if you can find seeds. Propagating by division is not practical because the woody rootstocks are nearly impossible to cut, but if you want to try, late fall is when you divide, but if you are lucky and have good soil Blue Star is inclined to self seed. Prune in late winter or early spring and it is a good groundcover to edge your garden beds or rock gardens and butterflies are attracted to the bluish blooms on 12" stems in May. It grows up to 5"but will spread up to 2' in full sun to partial shade and prefers a moist loamy soil.

Calibrachoa(kal-ih-bruh-KO-uh)-“Mission Bells”hybrid

Calibrachoa is closely related to the petunia and can only be propagated from seeds or cuttings, since they are only hardy in Zone 10 and are patent protected. It blooms from late spring until autumn and the colors available in the hybrid “Mission Bells” range from white, purple/blue, soft lavender/pink, hot pink, cherry pink, apricot, and yellow. When taking cuttings the growing medium should be kept moist, but not in peat pots, and should be drenched in a fungicide after transplanting. Their blooms are smaller but double the quantity of petunias and are great in hanging baskets or planters and need to be feed with a high nitrogen fertilizer every two weeks throughout the growing season. A plant worthwhile growing from seed annually or by ordering cuttings to spruce up a patio or deck, but do not overwater, since they are prone to root rot. They grow up to 7" and the sun loving blooms in well draining soil are self cleaning unlike petunias which means the plants discards the old blooms so new ones can take their place. I saw this plant in a magazine article and had to learn more about it. Gorgeous!

Asclepias tuberosa-Butterfly Weed

Butterfly weed or butterfly milkweed is not easily propagated by division because the plant has a very strong tap root, stores food and water, that goes deep into the ground and any division may do poorly however they can be self seeding so you maybe able to locate seedlings in the spring and transplant before the tubers take hold, but it will take 2 years before the seedlings bloom. It is one plant that Monarch butterflies rely on, the nectar of the flowers, throughout the blooming season and the plants reach a height of 2 feet. Butterfly weed prefers dry soil conditions, gravel or sand, in sunny locations, too wet and the plants will die. It requires a cold winter to bloom from Texas to New England. It blooms June through September and the flower colors are red, orange and yellow.

Begonia grandis-Hardy Begonia

Propagation of hardy begonia is done by two different methods, one is by sowing the bulbils which is a small bulb like fruit in a leaf axil, the plant will reseed by itself when they fall, or by digging up the plant and dividing the roots in the spring. This begonia is a cousin to the annual begonia that many people plant year after year, but it is only hardy in Zone 6-9 and flowers from August until frost with pink blooms on burgundy/green leaves, but there is also a white flowering species. Pinching keeps the plant from becoming leggy and deadheading prolongs the blooms but it only needs less then two house of filtered sunlight and is prone to stem rot if overwatered. It would compliment the hole that bleeding hearts leave when they die back early. It reaches a height of 2 feet and likes a well drained composted soil with a neutral pH. In China they call it “autumn crabapple.”

Astible-False Spirea

Astible can be propagated in the spring by digging up the whole plant and dividing the clumps which should be done at least every 4 years because the older plants become woody and have a hard time absorbing water and will eventually die. Astible roots are shallow rooted so in northern climates its best to check to see if frost heave has exposed their roots and if so re-bury them. There are various varieties of Astible, the basic colors are white, pink, red, and purple there is also a purple leaved variety. Astible depending on the variety will bloom from June through to September and they will need a basic fertilizer application in the spring when their leaves start sprouting. This is the one plant that thrives in a part shade, plant in dense shade and it will lack blooms and plant away from competing tree roots, moist soil heavily composted with peat and manure and butterflies are attracted to it but deer ignore it. Dead blooms are used in dry flower arrangements. Depending on the variety Astible will grow from the basic 12 inches to 4 feet and it will mix well with Hosta which might keep the deer away.

Dicentra spectabilis-bleeding heart, Venus’s car, lyre flower

Bleeding heart can be best propagated by division in the spring because it is a perennial that when it stops flowering in April/May the leaves/plant go dormant, dies back, so unless you flag the plant you may not be able to locate it in the fall to divide. Bleeding hearts grow up to 3 feet and prefer partial shade. When you divide bleeding heart make certain you wear gloves and a long sleeved shirt because the plant is toxic, no deer, which can cause irritation to your skin. The most common color is rose pink but there is a white variety and a fuchsia introduced in the U.K. 10 years ago. For bleeding heart to be successful, it needs a moist well drained soil of humus compost of neutral ph and does not tolerate wet soil in winter nor dry soil in summer but be aware it is susceptible to aphid infestations.

Siberian iris

Siberian iris grow by rhizomes and are the easiest of perennials to propagate by division because they grow in clumps and the best time to propagate is in the fall but generally they can be propagated anytime the plant is not flowering. As the enclosed photo to the right shows it does well in very moist areas. I was dividing my plants last year and threw a single stem that I felt was not large enough to propagate over the bank, it was not planted, and look how it took hold and the growth in had in one year in dappled sun. If you have a wet area in your yard this is one plant that will thrive. I will provide an update when I transplant this clump so you can see how the roots exploded. It prefers a slightly acidic soil and most varieties will grow upwards of 3 feet, and the leaves are narrower then bearded iris, and the colors vary from white./yellow to blues and purples and bloom late spring to early summer. I was able to purchase additional rhizomes from the markdown bin at Costco so I am not certain what kind of luck I will have in growing those 12 plants because the roots looked pretty sickly when I opened the bags but I wanted the additional colors. Update-I dug up the plant that I threw down the hill last year because it was too small to attempt to transplant and look at the root system.

Hosta-Plantain lily, Funkia

Hosta roots grow from corms, like bearded iris, so they are easily propagated however be aware deer love munching, as well as snails and slugs, Hosta so it’s best not to get disappointed. However if you have slugs ravaging Hosta place some diatomaceous earth around the plant because the sharp pieces poke holes in the slugs protective coating causing them to dehydrate and die. The best time to divide the rhizomes is in the fall, by carefully cutting the rhizomes with the edge of your shovel or trowel, and generally Hosta’s love deep shade but because there are hundreds of different varieties and colors, however the gold leafed variety is said to show its color best when planted in full sun. The green and blue varieties prefer deep shade. There are fragrant varieties as well and they too prefer sunlight to form their large flower heads. Although Hosta plants can outlive their owners they are not considered invasive and some varieties can grow as tall as 4 feet. Their leaf colors range from variegated, enclosed photo, to blue, green and variations with white or gold along the edges or inside veins and prefer a rich moist humus well drained soil with a neutral ph and blooms in early summer. If you want to check for specific varieties go to www.hostalibrary.org.

Nepeta cataria-Catnip, Catmint

Catnip or Catmint is another perennial that can be propagated by division in April/spring, by digging up the whole plant, the stems tend to become woody so cutting back after flowering because, plants can reach a height of 3' so it becomes bushier, give the cuttings to a cat to watch their antics, and propagate by splitting the clumps, saving multiple stems with each transplant, but cuttings can also be taken in June/July which should be allowed to root in a shady location and well misted. Catnip likes an alkaline well drained sandy type soil in full sun or partial and blooms, mid to late summer, vary depending upon variety from white to lilac and should be pruned before flowering or it has a tendency to become invasive unless you want the transplants and although cats love the plants, deer stay away.

Gallium odoratum-Sweet Woodruff or Wild Baby’s Breathe

Sweet woodruff is another easy perennial that can be propagated by division, preferably in the spring by digging up the stolens because the parent plant sends out rhizomes, but it becomes invasive if watered too much. A drier soil can contain the invasive properties, however it is one of the most useful plants in making potpourris and another plant that deer avoid. Sweet Woodruff prefers shade in a well drained soil that is slightly acidic and reaches a height of 6-12" with white blooms in May/June.

Arabis-Rock Cress

Rock Cress is propagated by digging up the whole plant and then dividing the crown into however many pieces that have ample root systems to start the journey all over again, but it should be propagated in the fall or after it finishes blooming and the trim the plant back before transplanting. Since Rock Cress is one of the earliest blooming perennials it will compete with spring bulbs for color because it blooms with no evidence of leaves. The plants grow to a height of 6 inches and does well in full sun and rich humus dry soil and are used in garden beds to cascade over walls because of their spreading growth in a white or pink profuse carpet, the habit similar to creeping phlox and should be pruned back after flowering to ensure a good blooms the following year.

Convallari magalis-Lily-of-the-Valley, Jacob’s Ladder, Ladder-to-Heaven

Propagating Lily-of-the-Valley is easy to transplant because its spread by rhizomes, the easiest type of plant to propagate, just make certain there are plenty of roots for a successful transplanting, but can become invasive if left unchecked. The standard blooms are white and fragrant, but a different variety has been introduced that is pink and they flower in May and are best transplanted in the fall into partial shade in a well drained humus soil, either alkaline or acidic, that retains moisture and the plant can reach a height of 12".

OFF-TOPIC

My homepage is Yahoo and every once in a while they have an interesting article that never hits the news stations and why I e-mails my Senators and had forgotten about “Crimson Sky” until I received a phone call from Washington, Richard Burr’s office, who called to thank me for contacting his office, even though North Carolina is one of the states looking to house the facility which is the only one in the USA to research the contagious foot-and-mouth disease, remember England an all the cows & pigs it destroyed and the people who contacted the brain wasting disease? Kansas wants to locate the facility in their state, jobs, right now the facility sits in Long Island Sound, off of Long Island, Plum Island or Orient, NY, and was transferred to Homeland Security’s control after 9/11, and we know how inept that department is in barring illegal immigrants from roaming the USA untouched, like they own the country. A friend was in England in 2001 and rode a bus that had to pass through a trough in the road filled with a solution that decontaminated the tires to prevent the foot and mouth from spreading. The White House says the Plum Island facility is antiquated and needs new buildings but if you look at the size of the island and the empty spaces, the farmland, via Google Earth why can’t another facility be built there instead on the mainland? I have included a blog that will give you more information and if you feel the facility should remain on Plum Island, e-mail your Senators and express your concerns, because will affect everyone in the USA. http://butnerblogspot.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/nbaf-fmd-and-the-crimson-sky-scenario/